An Analysis of Information Technology Publications in Leading Hospitality Journals

In response to the recent wide-scale applications of lnformation Technology (I/T) in the hospitality industry, this study analyzed articles in leading hospitality research journals, including the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, and the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research published in the period 1985 to 2004. A total of 1,896 full-length papers were published in these journals during the study period. Excluding book reviews, research notes, and comments from editors and readers, 130 full-length IT-related papers were identified. These papers were then grouped into six defined categories of IT. The findings revealed that during the entire study period, the largest number of publications were in general business applications, whereas the highest growth rate from the first decade to the second decade were in articles on networking

Differential Impacts of Information Technology Services in the Korean Hotel Industry: A Study of Management Perceptions

Successful introduction of information technology applications in various operations of hotel management is vital to most service firms. In recent decades, technologies of information, automation, and communication are increasingly recognized as essential components of a hotel company’s strategic plan. In this study, 62 super-deluxe hotels (5 star), deluxe hotels (4 star), and tourist hotels (3 star) in Korea are examined for differences in the impact of information technology services on guest’ satisfaction, guest convenience, and operational efficiency. The findings generally suggest that the impacts of information technology-enhanced services vary according to the category of hotels in Korea. The results of the study are expected to assist managers in the selections and implementation of information technology systems in their hotel.

Biometrics for Hospitality and Tourism: A New Wave of Information Technology

The technologies that empower biometrics have been around for a number of years, but until recently these technologies have been viewed as exotic. In the not too distant future biometrics will be used to regulate internal processes and to improve services in the hospitality and tourism industries. This paper provides an understanding of the current use of biometrics in general and its practical value for the future in hospitality and tourism. The study presents a review of current practices of biometrics with special reference to the hospitality and tourism businesses, addresses key issues imposed by this technology, and identifies business and marketing implications for these industries.

Strategic positioning of Taiwan in the outsourcing market: Evidence from information technology services and electronic manufacturing outsourcing to China

In outsourcing relationships with China, the Electronic Manufacturing (EM) and Information Technology Services (ITS) industry in Taiwan may possess such advantages as the continuing growth of its production value, complete manufacturing supply chain, low production cost and a large-scale Chinese market, and language and culture similarity compared to outsourcing to other countries. Nevertheless, the Council for Economic Planning and Development of Executive Yuan (CEPD) found that Taiwan's IT services outsourcing to China is subject to certain constraints and might not be as successful as the EM outsourcing (Aggarwal, 2003; CEPD, 2004a; CIER, 2003; Einhorn and Kriplani, 2003; Kumar and Zhu, 2006; Li and Gao, 2003; MIC, 2006). Some studies examined this issue, but failed to (1) provide statistical evidence about lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing, and (2) clearly explain the lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing by identifying similarities and differences between both types of outsourcing contexts. This research seeks to fill that gap and possibly provide potential strategic guidelines to ITS firms in Taiwan. This study adopts Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) as the theoretical basis. The basic premise is that different types of outsourcing activities may incur differing transaction costs and realize varying degrees of outsourcing success due to differential attributes of the transactions in the outsourcing process. Using primary data gathered from questionnaire surveys of ninety two firms, the results from exploratory analysis and binary logistic regression indicated that (1) when outsourcing to China, Taiwanese firms' ITS outsourcing tends to have higher level of asset specificity, uncertainty and technical skills relative to EM outsourcing, and these features indirectly reduce firms' outsourcing prevalence rates via their direct positive impacts on transaction costs; (2) Taiwanese firms' ITS outsourcing tends to have lower level of transaction structurability relative to EM outsourcing, and this feature indirectly increases firms' outsourcing prevalence rates via its direct negative impacts on transaction costs; (3) frequency does influence firms' transaction costs in ITS outsourcing positively, but does not bring impacts into their outsourcing prevalence rates, (4) relatedness does influence firms' transaction costs positively and prevalence rates negatively in ITS outsourcing, but its impacts on the prevalence rates are not caused by the mediation effects of transaction costs, and (5) firm size of outsourcing provider does not affect firms' transaction costs, but does affect their outsourcing prevalence rates in ITS outsourcing directly and positively. Using primary data gathered from face-to-face interviews of executives from seven firms, the results from inductive analysis indicated that (1) IT services outsourcing has lower prevalence rates than EM outsourcing, and (2) this result is mainly attributed to Taiwan's core competence in manufacturing and management and higher overall transaction costs of IT services outsourcing. Specifically, there is not much difference between both types of outsourcing context in the transaction characteristics of reputation and most aspects of overall comparison. Although there are some differences in the feature of firm size of the outsourcing provider, the difference doesn't cause apparent impacts on firms' overall transaction costs. The medium or above medium difference in the transaction characteristics of asset specificity, uncertainty, frequency, technical skills, transaction structurability, and relatedness has caused higher overall transaction costs for IT services outsourcing. This higher cost might cause lower prevalence rates for ITS outsourcing relative to EM outsourcing. Overall, the interview results are consistent with the statistical analyses and provide support to my expectation that in outsourcing to China, Taiwan's electronic manufacturing firms do have lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing relative to EM outsourcing due to higher transaction costs caused by certain attributes. To solve this problem, firms' management should aim at identifying alternative strategies and strive to reduce their overall transaction costs of IT services outsourcing by initiating appropriate strategies which fit their environment and needs.

Information technology and social cohesion : a tale of two villages

Acknowledgements: This research was carried out through a grant from the EPSRC: Communities and Cultures Network+ EP/K003585 and forms part of the dot.rural Rural Digital Economy Research Hub EP/G066051

Information technology and social cohesion : a tale of two villages

Acknowledgements: This research was carried out through a grant from the EPSRC: Communities and Cultures Network+ EP/K003585 and forms part of the dot.rural Rural Digital Economy Research Hub EP/G066051

Exploring Auditors’ Perceptions of the Usage and Importance of Audit Information Technology

This study provides novel evidence on the extent to which auditors perceive the usage and importance of audit technology in an emerging market. It explores the types of audit technology tools used and factors influencing the use of these; it tests the association between the perceived use and importance of the tools and firm-specific/ auditor-specific characteristics. Using interviews and questionnaires from auditors at Big 4 and international non-Big 4 audit firms, the findings reflect the highly perceived importance of using audit technology in technical and administrative procedures, specifically to assess risk. We find that the perceived use and importance of audit technology is relatively higher for those in Big 4 firms, with less years of auditor experience and higher auditor technology expertise, and those in management positions. The results provide policy makers with guidance on the opportunities and challenges of using information technology in the audit process.

The Use of Conceptual Business Model in Managing Information Technology Projects

The business model of an organization is an important strategic tool for its success, and should therefore be understood by business professionals and information technology professionals. By this context and considering the importance of information technology in contemporary business models, this article aims to verify the use of the business model components in the information technology (IT) projects management process in enterprises. To achieve this goal, this exploratory research has investigated the use of the Business Model concept in the information technology projects management, by a survey applied to 327 professionals from February to April 2012. It was observed that the business model concept, as well as its practices or its blocks, are not so well explored in its whole potential, possibly because it is relatively new. One of the benefits of this conceptual tool is to provide an understanding in terms of the core business for different areas, enabling a higher level of knowledge in terms of the essential activities of the enterprise IT professionals and the business area.

Twenty years of the Foundation of the School of Library, Documentation and Information of the National University Intellectual Property in Costa Rica - The information technology environment

This year the School of Library, Documentation and Information is twenty years from its beginning as Unit Library.

Impact of Information Technology Investments on Firm Productivity in Peripherals Countries: The Case of Portugal

IS/IT investments are seen has having an enormous potential impact on the competitive position of the firm, on its performance, and demand an active and motivated participation of several stakeholder groups. The shortfall of evidence concerning the productivity of IT became known as the ‘productivity paradox’. As Robert Solow, the Nobel laureate economist stated “we see computers everywhere except in the productivity statistics”. An important stream of research conducted all over the world has tried to understand these phenomena, called in the literature as «IS business value» field. However, there is a gap in the literature, addressing the Portuguese situation. No empirical work has been done to date in order to understand the impact of Information Technology adoption on the productivity of those firms. Using data from two surveys conducted by the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE), Inquiry to the use of IT by Portuguese companies (IUTIC) and the Inquiry Harmonized to (Portuguese) companies (accounting data), this study relates (using regression analysis) the amounts spent on IT with the financial performance indicator Returns on Equity, as a proxy of firm productivity, of Portuguese companies with more than 250 employees. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the Portuguese situation concerning the impact of IS/IT on the productivity of Portuguese top companies. Empirically, we test the impact of IT expenditure on firm productivity of a sample of Portuguese large companies. Our results, based on firm-level data on Information Technology expenditure and firm productivity as measured by return on equity (1186 observations) for the years of 2003 and 2004, exhibit a negative impact of IT expenditure on firm productivity, in line with “productivity paradox” claimants.

Revisión de la literatura y de planes de estudio para la definición de contenidos tecnológicos en las curriculas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información

Se realizó un análisis sobre la producción académica en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de la región Iberoamericana -artículos científicos y ponencias presentadas en eventos- con el objetivo de identificar en la literatura trabajos con contenidos tecnológicos definidos, para luego describir y cuantificar los temas tratados. En una segunda etapa, se realizó una exploración preliminar de los planes de estudio de algunas escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de nuestra región, con la idea de observar el tratamiento de esos temas en la currícula. Los resultados preliminares pretenden mostrar la relación existente entre los intereses tecnológicos de la comunidad profesional de la región y su tratamiento por parte de las Escuelas de Bibliotecología. Por otro lado la información recopilada podría constituirse en una herramienta para la realización de estudios longitudinales sobre la fluctuación en el tiempo de las diferentes temáticas, su ascenso y consolidación o su desaparición

Revisión de la literatura y de planes de estudio para la definición de contenidos tecnológicos en las curriculas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información

Se realizó un análisis sobre la producción académica en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de la región Iberoamericana -artículos científicos y ponencias presentadas en eventos- con el objetivo de identificar en la literatura trabajos con contenidos tecnológicos definidos, para luego describir y cuantificar los temas tratados. En una segunda etapa, se realizó una exploración preliminar de los planes de estudio de algunas escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de nuestra región, con la idea de observar el tratamiento de esos temas en la currícula. Los resultados preliminares pretenden mostrar la relación existente entre los intereses tecnológicos de la comunidad profesional de la región y su tratamiento por parte de las Escuelas de Bibliotecología. Por otro lado la información recopilada podría constituirse en una herramienta para la realización de estudios longitudinales sobre la fluctuación en el tiempo de las diferentes temáticas, su ascenso y consolidación o su desaparición

Revisión de la literatura y de planes de estudio para la definición de contenidos tecnológicos en las curriculas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información

Se realizó un análisis sobre la producción académica en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de la región Iberoamericana -artículos científicos y ponencias presentadas en eventos- con el objetivo de identificar en la literatura trabajos con contenidos tecnológicos definidos, para luego describir y cuantificar los temas tratados. En una segunda etapa, se realizó una exploración preliminar de los planes de estudio de algunas escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información de nuestra región, con la idea de observar el tratamiento de esos temas en la currícula. Los resultados preliminares pretenden mostrar la relación existente entre los intereses tecnológicos de la comunidad profesional de la región y su tratamiento por parte de las Escuelas de Bibliotecología. Por otro lado la información recopilada podría constituirse en una herramienta para la realización de estudios longitudinales sobre la fluctuación en el tiempo de las diferentes temáticas, su ascenso y consolidación o su desaparición